Who said Ars longa, vita brevis?

Ars longa, vita brevis

Origin

'Ars longa, vita brevis' is the translation into Latin of part of a quotation by the Greek 'Father of Medicine' - Hippocrates.

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Ars longa, vita brevis'?

Who said Ars longa, vita brevis?
This is one of those rare phrases in which the meaning is more debated than the origin. What is usually understood by 'Ars longa, vita brevis' is something along the lines of 'art lasts forever, but artists die and are forgotten'.

That is questioned by some, who say that it is a misinterpretation based on a misunderstanding of the translation of 'ars' as 'art'. If we accept that the Latin term 'ars' is equivalent to the Greek 'techne' and that 'ars' is better translated into English as 'skill' or 'craft', we may opt to interpret the phrase differently. The full quotation, in Latin, is

"Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile."

This can be rendered into English as 'life is short, the art (craft/skill) long, opportunity fleeting, experiment treacherous, judgement difficult'.

That would lead us to interpret the meaning as 'it takes a long time to acquire and perfect one's expertise (in, say, medicine) and one has but a short time in which to do it'.

Who said Ars longa, vita brevis?
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis was chosen by the 1960s progressive rock band The Nice as the title of their second album. The 'art last forever' meaning of the phrase now makes that look like a poor choice as the album is now largely forgotten.

Definition: Art (skill, a craft) is long and life is short.

Origin of Ars Longa Vita Brevis

This expression is in Latin. However, the original sentence was in Greek. It comes from the Greek physician Hippocrates, considered the father of medicine, and comprises the first two lines of Aphorismi.

  • Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile.

Art originally meant skill, not fine arts such as music or acting. The idea behind it was that skill, or technique takes a long time to develop. As a doctor, he believed that learning to be a doctor took a long time, but the time in which someone can be a doctor was short.

In other words, it takes you a long time to acquire and master your skills, and you can only use them for a short amount of time.

Examples of Ars Longa Vita Brevis

Who said Ars longa, vita brevis?
In the conversation below, two friends are discussing what they want to major in when they start college.

Scott: Have you chosen your major yet?

Tony: Yeah, I want to major in political science. I want to change the world. I want to make it a better place. What about you? What do you want to study at university?

Scott: I think I’ll major in art.

Tony: Really? Do you think you’ll be able to find a good job in that field?

Scott: Maybe not, but I’m not worried about that. I believe my art can make a statement, and ars longa vita brevis. Even if my life is short, my art could last forever.

Who said Ars longa, vita brevis?
Two coworkers use the expression while deciding what to do on the weekend.

Richard: Maybe we should go to an amusement park.

Miranda: No, I don’t want to do that. I’d rather go to a museum.

Richard: What? Are you serious? Why would you want to go to a museum? Museums are boring, and amusement parks are exciting! Life is short! Try to live a little!

Miranda: You’re right. Life is short. Ars longa vita brevis. That’s why I love museums. You can see all these beautiful works of art, and see how they affected history. You can see the messages that people believed in, and which have lasted so much longer than the artists themselves.

Richard: True. But I still think roller coasters are more fun.

More Examples

The first example is from a review of an art exhibition.

  • The artist’s hand supersedes his ghost in this exquisite spirit photograph. Ars longa, vita brevis — if art is long and life short, he was prepared. Mapplethorpe had wrapped a fist around art, and he held it fast. –LA Times

The second example is from an article about an art building that people are restoring.

Additions began being constructed in late 1960s, including new wings and stand-alone buildings adjacent to the original. On the river-facing side of the building, there’s a Latin inscription that had been obscured largely for decades by the low-slung, print-making wing. With that wing removed, the phrase can now be more easily seen from below, Scott said.

“Ars longa / vita brevis est,” the inscription reads. Or: “Art endures / life is short.” –USA Today

Summary

The quotation ars longa vita brevis speaks to the longevity of art (either as a technical craft or as paintings and other fine art) as compared to the shortness of human lives.

Contents

  • 1 Ars Longa Vita Brevis Meaning
  • 2 Origin of Ars Longa Vita Brevis
  • 3 Examples of Ars Longa Vita Brevis
  • 4 More Examples
  • 5 Summary

Who wrote Ars Longa Vita Brevis?

Sure, the literal translation is art is long, life is short. The phrase comes from the Latin translation of Hippocrates' Aphorismi, his collection of pithy one-liners on how to fix various ailments.

What is meant by Ars Longa Vita Brevis?

: art is long, life is short : learning one's craft takes so long that a lifetime may not be adequate also : works of art may outlive their creators.

When was Ars Longa Vita Brevis made?

It was built in 1933, and not one of them is alive today.

Who said life is long and short art?

Some five centuries before Christ, the ancient father of medicine Hippocrates used to instruct his students that “Life is short and Art is long; opportunity fleeting, experiment treacherous, judgment difficult.” (Ο βίος βραχύς, η δε τέχνη μακρή, ο δε καιρός οξύς, η δε πείρα σφαλερή, η δε κρίσις χαλεπή).